Possessed
by Natala-Rose
Summary: Miroku's soul is stolen from his body, dragged through the Bone Eater's Well and ends up in Kagome's time. Feeling his life's aura growing weaker, the bodiless monk is forced to take refuge in a host. IYYYH crossover. Full summary inside
1. Default Chapter

**_Possessed_**

**By:** Natala-Rose

**Summary:** Miroku's soul is separated from his body in the Fuedal Era, dragged through the Bone Eater's Well and winds up in Kagome's time period. Feeling his life's aura growing weaker, the bodiless monk is forced to take refuge in a host, which just happens to be a polite, mild mannered red head. Will Kurama be able to deal with the effects of acquiring _another_ soul? And a perverted one at that?

**Disclaimer:** We don't own YYH or IY. Though we _really_ wish we did!

**_Chapter 1_**

Darkness shrouded the skies above the large stone castle; not a silver star nor the golden moon in sight. Deep within the castle's interior, a figure moved within a darkened room. The center of the room was lighted by a single candle that sat in the middle of an old wooden table. The flickering light gave off a wavering glow which spread out a couple of feet, causing eerie shadows to dance upon the lone occupant. The figure's appearance was elegant and fair, with piercing red eyes, flawless skin and flowing onyx locks that fell in waves down his back. But for all the attractiveness that exuded from him, it was all a clever deception. The outer shell was nothing but that. A shell. A costume to hide the _real_ creature that resided within.

The dreaded demon known as Naraku.

Naraku glided silently to the far wall, extracting a jar from the top most shelf and returned to the lighted table. Removing the top, he dipped in an elegant hand, withdrawing from the jar a still beating heart. The organ pulsed with life in Naraku's hand and the demon chuckled, his deep voice resonating through the silence. Closing his eyes, Naraku summoned the power of the jewel shards which resided deep within an inner pocket of the decorative kimono he wore. From within the pocket, the partially completed jewel began to glow a deep indigo as it instilled its tainted power into the demon using it.

Muttering the incantation for extracting a new incarnation, Naraku's whole body shuddered as the process began. There was the sickening sound of flesh being stretched and torn, but Naraku's face remained impassive. Not a clue to whether he felt pain or not was given. Soon the stretching sound stopped and there was a subtle thud as something landed on the floor before him. Naraku opened his eyes to inspect the incarnation as it rose to his feet before his creator.

Multiple horns sprang from the top of the beast's head and fangs jutted from the mouth, permanently set in a snarl. Eyes the same bloody shade of his master's glowed as the beast began to bring itself to its feet. Green and black warred across the skin of the newest incarnation. Naraku eyed it cynically, apparently unaffected by its towering presence. The incarnation flexed its claws, eyeing the smaller demon below it.

"Not the best of my 'children', but perhaps you are more than just the mindless beast you appear to be. None of my incarnations can possibly be weak. I suppose I shall have to name you." Naraku became pensive, searching for a name for the ugly creature he had created.

The new demon took a step back, eyeing its creator curiously before it smirked, a laughing growl rumbling up from its chest. "I think that would be wise. I would prefer not to be called 'incarnation' all the time, master."

Naraku showed a faint amount of surprise before his eyes narrowed at his new incarnation. "Do not mock me. I hold your existence captive. I can easily make your form return to me if you do not prove your usefulness." Naraku paused, watching harshly until his newest incarnation looked suitably humble. "Your name shall be Baast."

The newly named demon nodded its massive head before again meeting his master's gaze. "What do you wish of me, master?"

Naraku's lips curled back into a menacing smile, revealing even pearly white teeth. His silky voice resonated throughout the room as he spoke. "I believe you have an interesting tool at your disposal, do you not?"

Baast gave a hideously toothy grin. "Yes, my master." Holding out a clawed hand, a shimmering green light appeared in the demon's palm, which soon solidified in the form of a small, round orb.

Naraku nodded. "Good. This orb has the ability to withdraw a living soul from its body." An elegant hand arced in the air, causing a ripple to appear. Within the ripple, an image of a young girl with long dark hair emerged. She was wearing a strange white and green kimono and she held a bow and arrow in her hands.

"I desire her soul. Do not fail to retrieve it." Naraku instructed.

The incarnation known as Baast bowed lowly before retreating from the room to leave his master to his evil musings.

_Meanwhile...._

"Inuyasha, you _jerk!_" a certain girl from the future cried after the young inu hanyou.

Said hanyou ignored her words, intent on finding the source of a particular scent that always drew his attention from anything else.

As Inuyasha ran off into the surrounding forest, in some random direction, a crying Kagome grabbed her bag and jumped over the lip of the well that would take her back to her own time, leaving behind a very confused Sango and Miroku.

"It seems Inuyasha has once again managed to upset Kagome-sama," Miroku commented. Sango's chocolate colored eyes were fixed firmly on the well as she remembered the droplets running down her friend's face. She barely registered Miroku's words and was going to give a simple nod before she felt a hand sliding onto her rear.

One eyebrow twitched and her bone boomerang, Hiraikotsu, came crashing onto the thick skulled monk's head. " Pervert! I may be distracted by Kagome's plight, but I'm not _that_ distracted."

Picking himself up from the ground, Miroku very calmly brushed off his robes as he turned what he deemed an innocent look toward the Taijiya. "Why Sango, I had no other intentions but to comfort you as you sympathized for dear Kagome-sama. I know how close you two are."

Behind the two, sounds suspiciously similar to badly covered snickers were being emitted by the kitsune child Shippo. Emerald green eyes had focused on the amusing sight after Kagome had disappeared. It was no use to worry about Kagome when neither she nor Inuyasha, who had undoubtedly caused her tears, were nearby.

Sango gave Shippo a brief admonishing look before her full attention was focused on the monk. "There are many other ways to comfort someone than groping them monk. In fact, I doubt I will ever be comforted by anyone, especially you, groping me."

Miroku feigned a hurt look as he climbed to his feet. "But, Sango, I have read many accounts where women have been comforted by these simple gestures of affection."

"Affection? You just like to grope women." Sango stormed off towards the village, her eyes threatening to the next enemy that came along. Miroku's violet orbs caught Shippo's with a serious air.

"You see Shippo, you must learn to look beneath the words and into the emotions beneath. She was really honored by my attempts to comfort her and will someday thank me for every affectionate moment and attempts at comfort I have given her." Miroku pretended not to see the kitsune rolling his eyes as they meandered back towards the village.

The trio drew nearer to Keade's villiage when screams and loud sounds of mass destruction mingled with the occasional demonic roar filled the air. Miroku and Sango glanced at one another worriedly while Shippou ducked down to hide his head beneath the fall of Sango's ponytail. The two humans took off at a run in the direction of the noise. They came upon a hideous green and black demon rampaging and destroying everything in its path.

"Where is the miko!" Its rumbling growl cried out demandingly.

"It...it wants Kagome?!" Shippou squeaked uneasily.

"So it would seem." Miroku replied, brandishing his staff as Sango readied her hiraikotsu. "It's a good thing Kagome-sama is not here, but still, we must lead the demon from the village before one of the villagers is injured or worse."

The demon seemed bent on mass destruction when no answer came forthcoming. Sango and Miroku did the best with their weapons, and it seemed to be working. They drew the demon away from the village and before long they were nearing the Bone Eater's well. Miroku grit his teeth when he saw the Saimyoushou keeping him from finishing the demon once and for all.

The demon roared as the boomerang once again rammed itself into his neck. With an enraged roar it brought out an orb the same ugly black and green that its body was. "Foolish human! You will pay for attempting to harm me with your weapon!"

The orb began to glow with an unearthly power, and Miroku senses went into overload. That orb had a similar sense as Kikyou's insects, with a slight difference. The target was still alive. As the light that Sango didn't seem to see streaked towards her, Miroku shouldered her out of the way, crying out briefly before his body fell to the ground lifeless.

Sango watched in horror as a white energy, devoid of form or density, emerged from the fallen monk. _'It's his soul!'_ she thought, panicked. Miroku's soul moved through the air noiselessly toward the glowing orb held within the demon's clawed grasp. The demon laughed as his quarry drifted nearer, but suddenly the wayward soul swerved, redirecting it's path toward the Bone Eater's well. The well in which Kagome used to travel back and forth between times. The well in which now had a dazzlingly blue light emanating from it. _'The well is drawing him in.'_ Sango gasped, blinking in astonishment as Miroku's soul made a beeline directly for the lighted well before diving down within its depths.

The orb of Baast stopped glowing abruptly. Its target had not been captured so its purpose could not be completed.

The glowing well suddenly spit out its wayward passenger, the glowing quickly fading as the white soul floated over the well, slight amounts of yellow flashing over its surface as the monk was quickly confused. He appeared to no longer have a body. For that matter, when did the well have a roof overhead?

Miroku sighed, at least to himself, since it wasn't presently possible for him to make sounds. He could hear himself fine though. Now the question was, where was he? And the roof overhead made him uneasy. It reminded him of what Kagome had talked about, when she'd talked about her future world.

If Miroku's eyes had been present, they would have widened. _'Of course! This must be the well house!'_ His soul form flashed a gleeful purple as he floated towards the door. He reached out to open the door and found himself floating through it. The monk mentally gave a frown, then a mental shrug, before looking around the shrine property. There was the God Tree, a nice, if odd looking, house, and stairs. Unfortunately for Miroku, the one person he knew in this world was no where to be seen.

Miroku twisted his soul form around, looking for Kagome. Logically, the only way he knew of how to get back to his body, was through the well. Why he had gotten through it then, he didn't know, but he certainly didn't want to go back through while that creature was there, not without someone who still had their body. So, the search was on for Kagome.

A few brief minutes of searching the property showed Kagome wasn't around the shrine. The monk floated higher, getting a better view of the property... and the huge mass of buildings that those stairs he had noticed earlier led to. He couldn't possibly find Kagome in that! He couldn't even sense her right now. Perhaps he could wait until she got home.

As if his thoughts had been a cue, he felt a sharp tug on his soul, and to his horror felt himself becoming dizzy and his soul plummeted towards the ground. As suddenly as it happened it stopped and Miroku was again calmly floating in the air. Miroku evaluated his soul form and frowned. Was it just him, or did his soul have a bit less energy than before?

_'This isn't good',_ he thought, as another wave of dizziness overwehelmed him and he again made for the ground. This time it took longer for the spell to pass and Miroku could definitely tell his soul's energy was slowly draining away. _'Kuso!' _

Miroku had the sudden realization of just what was going on. His spiritual energy was slowly draining away, namely due to the lack of a body to contain it. The solution to his delimma seemed obvious. He'd just have to go out and 'borrow' a body until he found Kagome and was able to explain to her what had happened. 'Quite simple, really,' Miroku thought.

It was while Miroku was making this decision that he suddenly sensed an abundantly powerful aura coming from an alley a block ahead of him. Curious, the free roaming soul of the perverted monk drifted forward to investigate.

Miroku first focused on a teenage boy with slicked back black hair. He immediately winced at the general tone of pure arrogance and solutions through violence that the boy's aura had. Miroku shook his head. _'Too close to Inuyasha,'_ he mused.

Miroku immediately dismissed the demon. He doubted a human soul in a demon body would work well. The demon was likely to sense him if the eye on top of his head was any indication. The orange haired human boy wouldn't do either, though the boy's power seemed to radiate a kind similiar to his own. By the way the large boy was looking around, he mgiht even sense him. Finally, Miroku focused on the last boy, a mixed aura, but with looks most girls would kill for. Or kill to be with. Miroku's essence flashed in satisfied glee.

Waiting until they had finished off the hidious looking demon they had been battling, Miroku made his move as the group was thoroughly distracted by the appearance of an attractive, blue haired woman. Closing in swiftly, the disembodied monk allowed his soul to invade the body his red haired target.

The monk's red haired new host made a startled noise as a subtle feeling overwhelmed him before fading away. The sound he'd made was enough to draw the attention of his three companions and the blue haired woman, who arched an eyebrow at him curiously.

"Kurama, are you alright?" she asked, stepping over to lay a hand on his arm in concern.

Kurama, shaking off the residual effects of whatever had come over him, looked up at Botan and smiled politely, an explanation of some sort forming on his lips, when suddenly....

"AHH! HENTAI!!"

**Whap!**

Everyone gasped in shock, including Kurama, who stood staring dumbfoundedly at one hand (which he had just forcefully removed from Botan's behind) whilst the other clutched his aching cheek (which Botan had forcefully slapped).

"I-I'm sorry Botan, I don't know what came over me," Kurama stammered out, horrified at his own actions. He turned inwardly briefly and thought suspiciously towards the fox spirit. _'Did you do this?'_

**_Nope! It was all you, Shuichi!_**

Hiei raised an eyebrow at his companion, the slight widening of his eyes the only other indication that he was startled, perhaps even shocked by Kurama's actions. He turned his head and saw equally confused looks on his other companions faces, though the humans were beginning to laugh as the shock wore off.

"Bakas," Hiei muttered.

Yusuke tried to cover up his snickering with a cough, but Kurama looked so confused, and Botan was more indignant than he had ever seen her. It was impossible for him not to laugh at the poor kitsune, and if anything, Hiei made it funnier. Even the fire apparition looked confused.

Kuwabara looked quite shaken by Kurama's seemingly forgotten control. Now he was acting more mature than Kurama?

"Kurama! I thought you were too much of a gentleman to attempt such a thing! What's come over you!?" Botan fumed.

"I... I..." The poor kitsune was at a loss. His normally rational mind was far beyond rational at this point and for the life of him, he could not come up with an explanation for his actions.

Botan didn't seem to care whether he had an explanation or not, she was far too busy fuming, arms crossed in front of her as she glared pointedly at the red head. Kurama sweatdropped. "S-s-sorry, Botan-chan, my hand...must have slipped." He tried once more to divert the ferry girl's wrath.

There were doubtful snorts at this and Botan's eyes narrowed. Fortunately, as Kurama had a good track record so far, Botan let it go with a, "Just don't do it again, Kurama!"

His friends, though he was using the term loosely at the moment, all seemed amused by this new event. Yusuke had let his laughter out and Kurama took out his confusion and embarrassment and turned it into seething anger at the spirit detective. "If you're _quite_ finished."

Kuwabara was frowning at him, the disappointment clear in his tone. "I never expected you would do such a thing."

"B-But I didn't! I mean, I did, but..." Kurama trailed off as Botan glared at him again and he cringed. Yusuke actually managed to bring his laughter down to undignified giggles. Hiei was staring at them all expressionlessly, but he seemed a bit bewildered by the whole scene. Kurama felt a brief flare of satisfaction. At least someone else besides him was feeling confused by this mess!

The feeling quickly disbursed however when Botan once again vented her opinion quite vehemently about the situation. "Make up your mind, will you?! Either you did it on purpose, or you didn't. It's not that hard. But I'll tell you this now, Kurama, if I find out that you really did do this on purpose, you'll be having to extract your rose whip from a more interesting part of your anatomy. Got it?" Botan's body seemed to be engulfed in black flames by the time she was done issuing her threat. Yusuke was on the verge of full out laughter again, Kuwabara still had that devestated look and Hiei...Hiei's lips had began to quirk in the most interesting way.

Almost as if they were tempted to give into a smirk.

"I understand Botan-chan," Kurama said quietly, taking the slightest step back. He briefly sent a glare at Hiei at the beginnings of a smirk. A glare, as Hiei found out, could mean a thousand different things. This particular one seemed to mean 'If you give into that smirk you won't like the consequences.'

As soon as Kurama's attention was away from him, Hiei was smirking. Botan had calmed down slightly, seemingly more at the retreat than at the actual words. "Good! See that you keep understanding!"

She calmed herself down a bit more and turned a thousand watt smile on the rest of them. "I think we're done here, don't you?" She said pleasantly.

"Hell, yeah," Yusuke agreed, "Let's get this over with and report back to the toddler. I have other, more important things to do, you know."

"Yeah, me too. I promised Yukina-san I'd come and visit her this evening over at Genkai's temple. So I gotta get cleaned up a bit first." The orange haired Tentei nodded his head in agreement, his words earning him a death glare from the fire demon beside him.

Botan nodded. "Great! Let's go!" she gushed, not even looking back at Kurama as she summoned her oar and hopped on board.

Kurama hung back a bit as the others walked on. His mind was still a blank as to what had happened. He had, apparently, just _groped_ Botan. The word sounded so foreign to him. He wasn't even attracted to the girl.

**_So you would grope her if you were attracted to her?_** Amusement flooded Kurama's mind as Youko spoke and Kurama snarled silently. _'I didn't mean it like that and you know it. This just doesn't make any sense.'_

**_Perhaps your finally being a real boy!_** Youko's chuckling echoed through Kurama's mind and the kitsune clenched his teeth and stomped off after his friends. He still couldn't help wondering even without Youko's chatter. What exactly was wrong with him?


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2_**

Two days passed, finding the Spirit Detective team, along with a few other friends, sitting around a grassy area in the local park. A couple of blankets were spread out beneath a large oak and had various items of food set out for the gang to munch on. A cooler of drinks sat between them. Yusuke, Kuwabara and Yukina sat near one blanket, all caught up in conversation as a shadowy form peered down from the depths of the oak's thick branches. Botan, Shizuru and Keiko sat around the other, also engaged in conversation. Kurama stood leaning against the base of the oak, arms crossed over his chest, left knee bent to brace his foot against the tree trunk as if observing the two groups interactions.

Truthfully, he was not joining them on purpose; one reason being he was unsure if there would be a repeat performance of the small incident concerning Botan from two days ago. She didn't seem to be angry with him anymore, but he also wasn't taking any chances. Plus, the other girls were present, causing an even bigger problem. He didn't particularly relish the thought of having his head removed from his shoulders by an enraged Jaganshi if his hands were to "accidentally" slip anywhere near the fire demon's sister.

He was inwardly pondering what could have caused him to do something such as to publicly grope Botan, therefore not noticing the worried looks a petite brunette was sending him from her seat on the blanket. Keiko had been curious as to what was causing the kitsune's non-social attitude all day. Normally, whenever he would see her, he would greet her with a warm smile and polite "Hello," or "How are you doing today, Keiko-chan?" But not today. Today he had been very distant, isolating himself from the others. Especially the girls; her included.

She had been surprised how much his seemingly dismissal of her had hurt, and it had her wondering...

Coming to a decision, Keiko rose to her feet (she hadn't really been adding to Botan and Shizuru's conversation anyway) and made her way to the red headed kitsune's side.

"Kurama-san?" Her voice seemed to startle him as his gaze swung from where it had been idly watching a flock of bluebirds in the sky to focus on her with widened emerald eyes.

"K-Keiko-chan!" The red head exclaimed. Keiko arched an eyebrow at him as he attempted to take a step back, bumping into the tree trunk.

"Kurama-san... are you alright? You've been awfully quite today. More than usual even." Keiko continued on, taking a few more steps toward Kurama while extending a hand to him in a friendly gesture.

_'Too close. Too close!'_ Kurama screamed mentally, as he could already feel his hand itching to latch onto the supple curve of Keiko's skirt covered behind.

"M-hmm." Kurama managed to reply, even as his right hand rose from his side, beginning a slow journey towards the brown haired girl.

Keiko smiled, mistaking the movement for an invitation to come nearer. Which she did.

Kurama's eyes closed in dread. "I'm sorry, Keiko." He muttered.

"Kurama, what are you- Aiyyeeee!"

Kurama squeezed his eyes shut and quickly withdrew his hand as soon as the compulsion left him. Keiko's hand was flying long before that and he was rocked backwards by the powerful SLAP! that she delivered.

"Kurama-san! Oh, it was an automatic reaction! I'm sure you didn't mean to-" Keiko cut herself off in mid sentence with another shriek, followed by another slap. He had groped her again!

Unknown to the main personality known to everyone as Kurama and to the other personality as Shuichi, another soul was laughing up a storm inside their body. He really hadn't expected to be found out. In fact, he didn't even know exactly what was going on. He couldn't influence the kitsune-human much besides the groping, so he was doubly surprised when a silky voice hissed at him from the depths of the combined souls. **_Who are you?_**

Considering the soul was who he was, there was really only one reply to this question.

_'Ah, I am but a humble monk. And might I inquire as to who you are?'_

**_Humble monk?_** Youko whispered and brushed his soul against the self proclaimed servant of Buddha. He growled a warning at the invader and wrapped himself completely around the new human soul to get a better sense of it. **_Humble?_** He asked again and felt a thrill of power when the "monk" tried to twist around uncomfortably. **_Indeed,_** He purred and withdrew. Miroku was unsure what to make of the feeling of amusement rolling off the other inhabitant of the body he had happened to choose.

_'And this is entertaining, how?'_ The disembodied monk inquired of the other entity.

**Slap!**

"Kurama, stop it! What has gotten into you?!" The mental conversation was interrupted by the slap to the cheek Kurama had gotten. Miroku laughed lightly. It was well worth the pain…

"I can't stop, Keiko. I think there's something wrong with me," Kurama attempted, unaware of the two snickering spirits in the back of his mind. If they'd had physical forms, they would have been rolling around on the ground, laughing at the poor unaware teenager.

"I'll say," Yusuke muttered in the brief silence following. His best friend had just been groped and the kitsune could only say he couldn't stop?

Keiko backed cautiously away from the furiously blushing Kurama, eyes watching him warily in case he made another attempt to cop a feel. _'Not that it didn't feel nice... STOP IT! This is no time to be harboring crushes! This is serious, something is wrong with Kurama-san!'_

Keiko berated herself mentally as she sat back down on the blanket, tucking her legs beneath her. By now, everyone was staring at Kurama. The red head could do nothing but hang his head in shame.

"I am truly sorry, Keiko." He murmured through the red curtain of hair concealing his embarrassed face. ""Please, forgive me?"

"Ah... Sure. Okay." Keiko smiled a bit tremulously, eyeing Kurama a bit warily, sympathy climbing into her eyes. There had to be something wrong with him for him to have acted like that. "I forgive you, Kurama."

Yusuke scoffed in the background, but kept his peace at a threatening glare. If she was going to forgive him, let her. It was no business of his. But if he kept groping girls, sooner or later someone was going to get angry at him. Eyeing the blushing red head who was now smiling gratefully, the Spirit Detective relented slightly. "What do you think is wrong with you?"

Looking faintly surprised that Yusuke had actually believed him, the kitsune shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. But I'm not doing this, not consciously, at least."

"So what does that mean? You telling me your subconscious is making you do this?" Yusuke asked incredulously.

"That's not what I am saying at all. What I'm saying is that there is something else... some other force propelling me...influencing me... to do this." Kurama replied.

**_Uh-oh, busted..._** Youko snickered at the apprehension the spirit monk suddenly began radiating.

_'Ah, not quite. He hasn't sensed my presence yet, only suspects.'_ Miroku responded piously, _'You are right though, I will eventually have to reveal myself if I am to receive any help in returning to my own body.'_

"Have Hiei look into your mind then. Prove it." Yusuke exclaimed, immediately taking to the idea.

Kuwabara looked blank for a moment, then looked at the fire apparition. "Can you really do that? He's a demon too."

"If he allows it," Hiei stated, looking as stoic as always, though a faintly curious gleam was in his crimson eyes.

**_Well?_** Youko asked the other spirit, amusement radiating from his own soul. There was a half-reluctant mental sigh before reaching out slowly, unsure if this would actually work.

_'No need for your friend to do that.'_ Miroku said softly into the normal portion of Kurama's mind.

There was a slight change in his aura as the dominant personality yelped both mentally and physically and the fire apparition jerked his head back, having been prepared to go into his friend's mind and prove or disprove his statement.

_'What-You're not Youko!'_ Kurama's voice held a tinge of panic with the surprise. _'Who are you?'_ He demanded quickly.

Attempting what had failed on Youko, Miroku tried his best innocent and pious voice. _'I am but a humble monk good sir.'_

It might have worked.... however, Youko's presence dispelled that possibility with a snort accompanied by four simple words.

**_Humble monk, my ass._**

_'Youko? What the hell is going on?!'_ By now, Kurama's mental voice had taken on a definite panicked tone. _'There's someone in there with you, isn't there!'_

**_No Shuichi, you're just hearing things. Of course there's someone else in here!_** If Youko had eyes to roll, he would have rolled them at his counterpart's obvious statement. Youko mentally nudged the monk, a few waves of irritation making Miroku mentally wince.

_'I mean you no harm, I simply, ah... Well, there was a demon you see, and I had to save Sango. So I ended up here.'_ Miroku felt quite proud of his explanation as Youko and Kurama tried to figure out what the heck he'd just said. Somehow things just didn't connect in their minds.

**_Who's Sango?_** Youko asked curiously, closely followed by Kurama's question. _'But how did your soul get into my body? And out of yours? You do have a body, correct? Youko is almost too much to handle already.'_

"Hello! Earth to fox; this is annoyance calling, could ya pick up the phone?" Yusuke's sarcasm penetrated the mental conversation and for an instant three spirits glanced up at Yusuke out of Kurama's eyes before two shuffled back to enjoy the show and leave Shuichi floundering alone as he realized that everyone was watching him.

Kurama's cheeks deepened to a shade nearly the same color of his hair as he took in his friends' expressions. Yusuke's annoyance showed on his face, accompanied with a bit of concern. Hiei's held his usual mask of indifference, but Kurama could tell by the look in the fire demon's ruby eyes that he was worried as well. Kuwabara looked on as he stood in a particularly protective stance beside Yukina, as if to ward off any groping gesture the kitsune might attempt to bestow upon the Koorime. Shizuru was standing with a baffled Botan, cigarette between her lips as she puffed on it thoughtfully. And Keiko…

Well, Keiko was staring at him expectantly, still awaiting an explanation…

"He was chatting with himselves," Hiei stated when Kurama gaped at them in confusion, his brain attempting to form a coherent reply and was offered helpful suggestions from both other personalities in his mind. The fire apparition shrugged and settled into his usual silence with mixed amounts of glares when a few stares were directed his way.

"He is right. I seem to have somehow... acquired another personality."

"Wha-? _Another_ one? You gotta be kidding me." Yusuke stated in disbelief. The reaction was pretty much distributed between all present, excluding Hiei who had an insider's perspective.

"Sadly, no, I am not, Yusuke. There is another soul now residing within me. How it got there, I have no idea, but was attempting to sort it out so that I could give you all a reason as to why I did what I- er… did… to Keiko-san." He again cast another apologetic look in the small brunette's direction.

_'She's too lovely to resist. How could you not want to reach out toward that voluptuous, firm-'_ Miroku felt what amounted to a mental kick and sent out waves of melodrama to his companions in retaliation._ 'I, but a lowly monk, have been forced to take residence in your body when all I want to do is get back to my wonderful lady love and all you can do is batter at my already fragile mental defenses! I should give up now! Give into the all consuming darkness waiting to overwhelm me, give in-'_

**_That's laying it on a bit thick. If you want to go back to your so-called 'lady love' why are you groping other females? Can't say I can complain about your choice, she is very lovely..._** Youko leered mentally at Keiko and Kurama tried to ignore the two as a few images darted through the back of his mind of exactly what Youko and Miroku found nice about her.

He glanced out again at his friends and explained weakly as they raised questioning eyebrows, "Youko and this new spirit seem to get along a bit too well."

"Is that so? Well, fox boy, what the hell do you plan on doing about it? And how'd you get so lucky in the first place anyway?" Yusuke asked.

"I am not sure, Yusuke. Perhaps if I were given time to actually converse with this new spirit, I would learn some useful information?" Kurama replied pointedly.

Yusuke scowled before waving the kitsune off. "Fine, I know when to shut up. You don't have to tell me twice, I can take a hint."

"Then why aren't you?" Kurama asked wearily.

Kurama fell silent, his body tensing as from the corner of his eye, he saw Keiko approaching. Granted, she still kept a bit more than arms length distance between them, but she approached him all the same. "It's okay, Kurama-san. I'm sure we can all wait for you to get some answers." She said softly, blushing.

_'Don't.'_ Kurama thought sharply at Miroku, just in case the monk decided to try despite the distance. There was an amused chuckle but when nothing happened Kurama smiled gratefully at Keiko. "I hope I can get some for you. This new spirit is very vague. I will do my best to make sure such things do not happen again.

Keiko blushed harder, recalling the previous incident concerning Kurama's wandering hand and her backside. "So... that wasn't you earlier?" She questioned. Kurama wasn't quite sure, but did she sound a bit... disappointed?

Kurama raised an eyebrow slightly and there was a faint whisper, from two voices, of **_She wants you._** Kurama carefully schooled his features as he replied politely, all the while wanting to evict the other two spirits and see if he could give them both a good beating. "My hand was under the influence of Miroku, apparently a monk, despite his rather nefarious habits."

"Oh..." Keiko blinked, not sure if she should be happy that it wasn't Kurama who had done such a thing or disappointed. "W-well then, I guess I owe you an apology again. For slapping you earlier... I'm sorry."

"I assure you, I took no offense. I was shocked myself, and had no clues as to what was going on." Kurama studiously ignored the stuttering and the hesitation in her voice, as well as the voices in the back of his mind. Who had decided to torture him so? Wasn't one vicious and perverted fox enough? Now he had a peaceful monk who was just as perverted - and they were ganging up on him.

Keiko nodded, stepping back and retreating over to where Shizuru, Botan and Yukina were standing together. Kurama sighed, once again looking inwardly. _'Alright, no more introductions. I want you to begin at the beginning and tell me how the hell you wound up in ** my** body.'_

**TBC…**


End file.
